The great event which was described in the previous chapter, the invocation of the Wondrous Being, bringing about the founding of the Mystery Schools through a feat of white magic, was accomplished by the Elect of Mankind. It was the forerunner of another mighty episode, which took place at about the same time in human history. Just as the Mystery Schools have persisted to this very day and will continue their work as long as Man needs them, so the event about to be described is not to be thought of as having happened some eighteen millions of years ago, then becoming lost in the mists of antiquity. The work that was started in those early times of human development during this Round was only the beginning; it is a process, which has maintained up to the present time.
To many students the phrase “The Descent of the Mânasaputras” has a familiar sound, and they find endless inspiration in the thought of the work of the bringers of light to the once mindless human race.
Analogy is said to have great value in explaining these deep aspects of the teachings, and fortunately we have an analogy upon which we have called several times before because it is so serviceable. It is that of the schools. This is because teaching is the most natural thing in the universe. Many creates of the wild teach their young how to forage for themselves or how to protect themselves; and in the human race teaching is carried to a fine art, for the reason that we have mind developed, and with this development goes the faculty of passing on the knowledge that we have acquired. The deepest aspect of teaching, wherein esoteric knowledge is transferred from teacher to pupil, is very appropriately called “passing on the light.” Phrased in this manner, it more exactly expresses the process whereby mind was awakened in early humanity.
As outlined in the teachings, certain hosts of higher beings — Sons of Mind or Mânasa-putras they were called — filled with compassion for younger entities, those who were striving to be humanized (for the members of the third Root-Race could hardly have been called humans as yet) “descended” from their lofty spheres and ‘infused’ themselves into the minds and consciousness of the members of this third Root-Race. And thus came to the human race the gift of Mind. The Greek legend that tells how Prometheus stole fire from the Gods is in truth a story from the Mysteries, for it relates in story form this wonderful event of long ago.
And it is worth considering that through the process of rebirth these same human beings of those far distant times of the past now make up our own fifth Root-Race. It is we ourselves who were awakened by these Mânasaputras. We still have the light of their consciousness burning within our hearts and minds.
Just who were these lofty entities? Where did they come from? Are they still with us, or have they returned to their own higher spheres?
In order to answer these questions we must go farther back in time than we have yet gone, not only to previous Rounds, but also to a period long before this world came into being at all.
We have been leading gradually into an explanation of the doctrine of the Globe Chains, not for the sake of the seasoned student by whom this doctrine is already well understood, but so that the newcomer will not be unduly confused.
The Ancient Wisdom postulates that this physical Earth is but the visible representative of a highly complex organism of a type which we have learned to call a Planetary Chain. If the entire planet should become visible to us we would see not one globe, but many globes. We cannot contact these with our senses, however, any more than we can contact with our senses those subtle radiation's which we have learned to use and which are known as radio and television waves. Their existence, it is true, can be proven by the use of the right instruments; and in similar manner the existence of these inner worlds is provable by those who have developed the faculties required. To them these things are perfectly natural. As students we must study and endeavor to understand the rationale of the teachings about these invisible globes; in this way their existence becomes more and more a reality to us.
Because it is important at this time to cover but one aspect of this teaching, the final details as to the number of these globes in their presentation in diagrammatical form will be left to a future time. It will be sufficient now to explain that the major cycle before referred to as a Round actually is the passage of the many groups of entities throughout all of these globes; and in our first approach to the teachings, we generally consider these to be seven in number. Furthermore, we say that during the lifetime of any planetary chain, there are seven such passages through all seven of the globes, and we call these the seven Rounds of the Chain. Each passage through any one of the Globes at any time is marked by its own cycles, which we have learned to call the Root-Races. These may be subdivided into the sub-races, national groups, and so on. Insofar as this Earth Chain is concerned, we are now on the fourth time around; and on this particular Globe of the chain we are in the fifth Root-race at present. We have been discussing certain great events, which occurred many millions of years ago when we were members of the third Root-Race. Now we are to go much further back in time.
There is a universal law of periodicity, and this manifests itself in human life as reincarnation — a vast study in itself and one that is intimately tied in with the doctrine of the Globe Chains. We mention it here because this same universal law applies to the life of a Planetary Chain as well as to a human individual. Of course we do not say that a Planetary Chain reincarnates, because it does not build for itself a body of flesh, but it does embody itself in a planetary body, and in its case we say that it reimbodies, as we would say of a star, a galaxy, or even an atom.
So, since the Earth Chain has embodied itself many times, it must have been a planetary chain before this, and it must be one again; and no doubt it will repeat this process of re-embodiment often in the future.
In the case of the human being there is usually no outward evidence at all of the existence of his own former body. We can, however, imagine such a case, and highly improbable as it no doubt would be, it will serve a useful purpose here. Let us suppose that an Egyptian who had lived many centuries ago had been mummified after his death. This mummy has been exhumed and now rests in a museum and is open to public view. Let us now suppose that among the many visitors to the museum there is the man who is the reincarnation of this former Egyptian. Whether he knows it or not, when he stands before this mummy he will be in the presence of a relic of his own former embodiment. In the particular instance that we are imagining, this mummy would have no effect on the man who lives today, but the illustration is useful at this present time; and it might e said parenthetically that many people do carry with them certain psychological remnants of their own former embodiments, and these can be very troublesome. A man who is plagued by a very strong remnant of his own former existence is sometimes said to have a “Dweller on the Threshold,” using a phrase from Bulwer-Lytton's Zanoni.
According to the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom, the Moon is just such a remnant of the Earth's former embodiment as a Globe Chain. More accurately stated, it is the remains of a Moon or Lunar Chain. Many of the planets have such remnants of their own former imbodiments, and in those cases where a planet has many moons, only one of these will be its true moon in the sense that we are using the term. The others are “captures” — which again is another story.
So we are now going to go back in though to a time when the Lunar Chain was in its heyday, long before the Earth Chain was in existence although, indeed, the karmic threads were already being spun which would eventually be woven into the tapestry of the Earth Chain to be. In like manner are we as individuals and as a race spinning the threads and weaving the tapestries of our own future lives.
But to return to the Lunar Chain. We can imagine quite rightly that the various kingdoms of nature flourished upon it, just as they do here on this Earth, and we shall now consider the case of a human being of that time long ago. What was he?
In general he was little different from what we humans are today. He had his physical body, his astral, his vital principles, his desires, his spiritual aspirations, and his Divine Self. But what happened to him in the interim? There lies the crux of our story.
Let us speak more specifically of his makeup, just as we do today when we speak of the human constitution. In the simplest terms consistent with accuracy we may outline his human constitution thus:
Âtman — his Inner God
Buddhi — the Mânasaputra within him; his inner teacher or guide
Manas — the Man himself in his higher parts
Kâma — his Animal Monad
Prâna, Linga-sarîra and Sthûla-sarîra — his Vital-Astral-Physical Monad
All of these parts of his constitution are presented in such a manner as will best emphasize the fact that they are living entities. That is the only way in which they can be regarded; and when they are so studied, we may build a truer picture of the events, which transpired to make man what he is today.
We are going to consider that this type of human of the Lunar Chain has successfully run the course of evolution, and that at the conclusion of the seventh Round of the Moon Chain each of his monads was ready to graduate into the evolutionary state of the one next higher than it. Thus we are going to consider that the animal Monad is now ready to bring forth those hidden qualities and attributes which will identify it as being a Human Monad. Similarly, the higher Human Monad of this Lunar inhabitant is now ready to identify itself as a Mânasaputric Monad. His one-time Buddhic or Mânasaputric Monad is now ready to manifest its Divinity, so that as a Monad of a still higher type it passes utterly beyond our ken.
What happens then is this: At the end of the life of the Lunar Chain, each one of these monads goes into its own Nirvânic rest. The word Nirvâna has been much misunderstood. It has been translated by most scholars as meaning “blown out of existence.” The word does indeed consist of the preposition nir — our, and vâna — blown. But in the real sense of the word, this does not refer to the entity itself; it refers only to the lowest principles of the entity. For the being itself, Nirvâna is a state of utter blissful consciousness, a state of being in which the entity is one with the Heart of the Universe. Actually there are many grades of Nirvâna. Each entity will go into that type which is the expression of the highest state of consciousness to which it can attain. Also we must understand that the Nirvâna is finite in duration; the length of the stay in the Nirvâna will depend upon the evolutionary standing of the entity that is enjoying this condition. Thus, the lower or less evolved entities cannot have as lofty nor as long a Nirvânic rest as can the more evolved entities; and on this fact hinges the teaching that is now being explained.
These various monads which formed the constitution of the Lunar human being must, upon returning from their own individual Nirvânic states, recombine to form the earth human being on the new chain of Globes. The constituents of that human constitution are known as the Pitris of various kinds. The word pitri means “father” or “progenitor.” Thus the thought is conveyed that the Lunar man was the progenitor of the human being here on Earth.
We come now to a new understanding of the reason that man's constitution has been divided into a higher triad and a lower quaternary. Because of the difference in the consciousness of these two general groupings of monads in man, the monads comprising the higher triad are known as the Solar Pitris, and those comprising the lower quaternary are known as the Lunar Pitris or the Barhishads. The word is curious. It is from the root barhis — “sacred grass” or “fire” (as parts of a household), and sad — “to sit.” The inference here is that those who attended to the household duties, sitting on the mats of “sacred grass” and tending the “fire” were the builders or caretakers of the more material aspects of the home. In this case, the evolved Animal Soul of the Lunar Human, referred to here as the Barhishad, is the “builder” of the Human Soul of the man of Earth. Collectively, this means that the early human race was a race of Barhishads, the evolved animal souls of the Lunar humanity. This is the reason that the early races were ‘mindless‘; they were the Lunar Pitris who had emerged from their Nirvâna more rapidly than had the Solar Pitris.
The question might very properly be raised at this point to the effect that we are now considering the fourth Round of the Earth Chain. Had not all of the entities that flourished on the Moon Chain had enough time to emerge from their Nirvânic rests? Was there no mind awakened during the previous Rounds? It is better to anticipate this question because we can clarify the picture now. It is true that all the entities, the Solar Pitris as well as the Lunar Pitris, had emerged from their interplanetary Nirvânas long before this fourth Round. But there is a minor or at least a shorter Nirvânic rest for all of these entities between Rounds (and even between sojourns on the various Globes). The same principle holds; in general the process is similar in all the Rounds of the Earth Chain and will, one may suppose, be repeated in the fifth and sixth Rounds, although it may well be that the whole process will have been greatly accelerated by that time.
So let us leave these Barhishads for the time being to work out their lives during the first, second and early part of the third Root-Races on this Globe during this fourth Round, and let us turn our attention now to the Solar Pitris.
The higher human being is a Solar entity, a Dhyâni-Chohan in the making, pursuing a long evolutionary journey leading it from unselfconsciousness to the condition of a fully self-conscious God. There are two words, which describe his condition, at the beginning and at the end of this evolutionary journey. At the beginning he is known as a Kumâra, a word which means “mortal with difficulty,” from the compound ku — difficulty, and mâra — mortal. The meaning is also conveyed in the word “youths” who have to struggle with difficulty through the long evolutionary adventure. We are all Kumâras in our higher human or mânasic parts, because as humans we have but very imperfectly manifested the higher human qualities, which will some day make us truly human in the fullest sense of the word. A completely human being is on the threshold of Divinity.
The word that is used for the condition of a fully evolved higher human monad is Agnishvâtta, from agni — fire and svatta — the past participle of the verb svad — to taste. Hence, one who has tasted the fire of the spirit, or one who has achieved through evolution the fire of spiritual consciousness. As such, he is a Dhyâni-Chohan in the fullest sense. The words mean literally “Lord of Meditation.”
If this Lunar man whom we are considering has successfully run the race, his higher human monad, which started out as a Kumâra, will have become an Agnishvâtta Pitri; and when this is ready to incarnate in the human being of the third Root-Race on this Earth, it does so as a Mânasaputra, or “Son of Mind.”
Thus we find that, having successfully passed through the seven Rounds of the Moon Chain, the higher human entities are not through with incarnation, but from now on this incarnation takes the form of a great act of compassion for the entities trailing along behind them. These entities, the new human beings, were once Animal Monads on the Moon Chain. Thus, it is that we humans have the Mânasaputric Inner Teachers. It is they who had ‘tasted fire’ and through evolution had brought themselves to the state of consciousness wherein they could consciously illumine the light of mind in the hitherto infant races of mankind on this Earth.
Remember that this process was carried on in each of the Rounds of this Earth Chain. We should also remember that this had previously happened on the Moon Chain, for it is part of the workings of Nature. We tend to think that Nature is red in tooth and claw when we observe so much killing and destruction on this Earth. We may take heart, however, when we realize that although this is a characteristic of life on this Earth, which might be an exception rather than the rule, the stronger forces at work in the universe are those of compassion. Because of the very workings of the compassionate hearts of those who have gone before us on the journey, we are here as we are now, with the hope and encouragement that is ours to sustain us on the journey before us.
There is one point that is important; and while it does introduce another aspect of teaching, it must be brought out because it has a direct bearing on the events which were described in the preceding chapter.
We have been speaking of this Lunar man, portraying him as the highest type possible; but unfortunately not all of them could run the race as successfully as he. There were indeed many who did, and in providing the Pitris for the humans of this Earth Chain, they produced the highest types of humans that we have — the Mahâtmans and beyond these, the Buddhas. It is such as these who became the Sishtas that were spoken of before, who, as a brotherhood of Adepts, produced or rather invoked by an act of white magic the Wondrous Being, the Hierarch of the Hierarchy of Compassion as it applies to this Earth.
Just because there were various grades of humans on the Moon Chain, as indeed there are here, we may divide them most conveniently into three categories; the most advanced, the intermediate, and the least advanced. It follows, then, that at the end of the Lunar cycles of Rounds there were at least three classes of Agnishvâtta Pitris, which were to become three classes of Mânasaputras. The highest of these came first and enfilled the minds of the Elect of Mankind, its Elder Brothers, so that they could and did perform that great act of Compassion before described. Then came the descent of the second class of Mânasaputras, far more numerous. In fact it might be said that the majority of mankind were illumined by this second class; they are we, the average people, spiritually awakened to a degree, but not so fully as the Elder Brothers. Then finally there were the laggards, that third class who came much later; and because they represented the least evolved of the humans on the Lunar Chain, they could not furnish the Pitris for the development of a very high type of human on this Earth. These are the genuine savages, the Andaman Islanders, for example. The Animal Monads or Barhishads of those humans on the Moon Chain were barely able to make it into the human kingdom, and they but feebly express the light of mind.
Now, there is nothing fixed and rigid about this classification; and if this teaching were not rightly understood, it could fill the heart and mind of the student with a sense of futility in thinking of the possibility of progress for the human race. One might think, for instance: “I am only an average person. I have heard of the Great Ones, but what chance have I? I have all the cards stacked against me because of the class in which I find myself. I do not belong where they are.” Such a viewpoint would be entirely forgetful of the meaning of the work of the Hierarchy of Compassion.
It was stated that the two events: the coming of the Wondrous Being, which brought about the establishing of the Mystery Schools and the Descent of the Mânasaputras, were concomitant and were closely related. And this important fact becomes self-evident. Because of the existence of the Hierarchy of Compassion, it is possible for anyone at all, if he desires to progress, not only to do so by his own self-devised efforts, but also aided by those who are older in experience. They cannot walk for him, to be sure, but they can and do aid him wherever possible. There is no aid that one can think of that is more meaningful than these very teachings which have come from them. They are given to us in the hope that they will stimulate our hearts and minds to greater effort. And we are taught that, great as are the teachings that we have at the present time, they are only the beginning. There is more to be had for the taking; and the meaning of the admonition “Ask and ye shall receive” becomes more and more forceful as we proceed.
There is no law in the Universe which obliges us to remain where we are. The law of life is progress upward, and we but follow the well-worn Path when we direct our footsteps upward on the hill of Enlightenment.